Talk of moving children in the 800-student Whitmer Human Resource Center elementary school to nearby Ottawa Towers near the Phoenix Center came to a halt before a scheduled 3 p.m. board meeting Friday after the district did not receive approval from the state to designate the commercial building as a school site.

Instead, beginning Tuesday Jan. 21, the 800 children from kindergarten through sixth grade will be divided up between Pontiac High School and Pontiac Middle School until extensive water damage to Whitmer can be repaired and children can return to their home school within two or three weeks.

Students in special education programs will attend school at Owen/Kennedy.

The Pontiac district’s plan calls for children in kindergarten through third grader to attend classes in a separate wing at the high school, where extra security will be on duty at the doors that separate the wing from the rest of the building. Lunch will be held at a separate time so there will be no interaction between the older and younger children, said Pontiac Education Association President Aimee McKeever.

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The fourth through sixth graders will attend classes in a separate wing in the middle school and will also have their lunch in the cafeteria at a separate time.

“They will be on separate schedules and separate at all times with the help of volunteers, teachers and additional administrators,” McKeever said.

Children who are bused will follow their normal schedule and be picked up and dropped off as usual. However walkers are being directed to go to the circle drive in back of WHRC, where they will be picked up by school buses at 8:20 a.m. and transported to their designated school. At the end of the school day, they will be bused back to the same area so they can walk home as usual, McKeever said.

The Pontiac Board of Education and Superintendent Kelley Williams were forced to find another location for the Whitmer children to attend school after the building suffered major damage due to the water that spewed from pipes that burst after the weather event that hit Michigan while children were still on holiday break. The storm dumped more than a foot of snow and brought wind chills of 30-40 degrees below zero. All Oakland County school districts were closed for three extra days because of impassible roads and dangerous wind chills. County districts reopened Jan. 9, with the exception of Pontiac which was closed two more days because of damages to buildings and icy roads. All but Whitmer reopened Monday Jan. 13.

Williams said in a statement Monday that she hoped Whitmer could reopen next week, but it turned out that it will take an estimated two to three more weeks to complete repairs, which includes making the building safe and environmentally sound for the students.

Whitmer Principal Wendy Fitzpatrick and assistant Principal Sultana Gambrell posted an announcement of the temporary relocation of students on the district’s website. And a special informational meeting at 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17 at the high school brought out between 200-300 parents.

“Please be assured that your child’s best interest is our main priority,” they said in their notice. “We are working with all stakeholders to ensure proper clearance for our students to relocate to the various sites.

“We appreciate your patience and understanding of this unfortunate situation,” the school officials said.